I know them only from a feature with Soft Lipa but never really checked them out separately. Gotta do that!

Thanks a lot :) I do know Giraffes? Giraffes! a bit, and I’m also a great fan of math rock. This is also something my friends don’t understand haha. I think all of your recommendations are awesome after checking them out! I will definitely put some of those in my music library. I liked Peela a lot, feels almost like a more modern blend of T-Square and Casiopea.

Absolutely! These are the obvious ones, maybe you already know them:

• T-Square
  • “TRUTH” is an absolute classic, just like “サーキットの放浪者”, and “Travellers”
• Casiopea
  • I think “Be” is my favourite Album, but all are solid
• Masayoshi Takanaka
  • the rainbow goblin album is my favourite, I think
  • I watch this one when I’m sad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTDK5Bluh5A

And then also some that are maybe lesser known (no particular order):

• Katsumi Horii Project
  • They have quite a lot of songs. “Way to morning” or “Flashback” are good examples. I also like “Jungle of Heaven”
• Trix
  • “ECCENTRIX” is really nice, just like “An Index”
• Dimension
• Himiko Kikuchi
• Naniwa Express
• Yuji Toriyama
• Chikara Ueda & The Power Station
• Toshiki Kadomatsu
• The Gran Turismo soundtrack also has some hidden Gems here and there

I think what I like about this genre is that it combines very catchy melodies/riffs and chord progressions with really creative jazzy solos. I have not really found much recent stuff (>2010), though. But I can recommend SOIL & Pimp Sessions. They are more recent and more traditional-jazz-oriented.

Bonus if you like light prog/math rock: Check out Elephant Gym. Spring Rain (春雨) is one of my favourite songs.

I really love Japanese jazz fusion. None of my friends understand my excitement about the EWI solos, they just say it sounds like Mario Kart music lol. I’m also into Buddhism, but dont have anyone else with this interest.